U.S. ambassador acknowledges election problems ahead

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The U.S. ambassador to Iraq acknowledged serious problems ahead of next weekend’s election in Iraq but gave assurance Sunday that “great efforts” are being made so every Iraqi can vote.

Meanwhile, rebels who have vowed to disrupt the balloting blew up a designated polling station near Hillah south of Baghdad and stormed a police station in Ramadi west of the capital, authorities said.

A U.S. soldier was killed Saturday on a security patrol in the northern city of Mosul, the military said Sunday. Large explosions and heavy gunfire were heard in eastern Mosul late Sunday.

U.S. and Iraqi officials fear more such attacks during the run-up to Sunday’s election and have announced massive security measures to protect voters. Iraqis will choose a 275-seat National Assembly and provincial councils in Iraq’s 18 provinces in the first nationwide balloting since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Large turnouts are expected among Iraq’s majority Shiite Muslims in the south and minority Kurds in the northeast. But the big question is whether Sunni Arabs, who form the core of the insurgency, will defy rebel threats and their clergy’s calls for a boycott and participate in substantial numbers.

Failure of significant numbers of Sunnis to participate would call into question the legitimacy of the new Iraqi leadership, widening the gulf among the country’s ethnic and religious groups and setting the stage for even more turmoil.

“The Iraqis will be – will be just fine,” Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice told reporters Sunday at the White House. “They’re starting a process, and this is an important step, a first step for them in this democratic process.”

In a series of interviews Sunday on American television talk shows, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte acknowledged an increase in rebel intimidation of Iraqi officials and security forces and said serious security problems remain in the Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad.

“But security measures are being taken by both the multinational forces here in Iraq as well as the Iraqi armed forces and police,” Negroponte told “Fox News Sunday.”

“There will be some problematic areas. … But even there, great efforts are being made to enable every Iraqi eligible to do so to be able to vote,” he said.

To encourage as big a turnout of Sunnis as possible, U.S. and Iraqi troops have stepped up security operations in Baghdad, Mosul and other tense areas, rounding up hundreds of suspected insurgents. The U.S. command announced Sunday it had arrested an undisclosed “top insurgent suspect” in Baghdad after hunting for him for nearly a year.

Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi, who is running for the National Assembly, predicted a bigger Sunni turnout than expected due to recent improvements in security in some areas.

“There is evidence that participation in the elections will be broader than expected,” Pachachi told Al-Arabiya television. “I call on the parties that planned to boycott the elections to urge their followers to vote.”